Quick-applying cape and hood



May 15, 1956 Filed March 25. 1954 R. w. PERSICO ET AL 2,745,104

QUICK-APPLYING CAPE AND HOOD 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORS [Palp/c MPG/Sic 0 Domain: Pongow W 14 was,

May 15, 1956 R. W. PERSICO ET AL QUICK-APPLYING CAPE AND HOOD Filed March 25. 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVEN TOR. )Talpia W pears llcO DOIIZiJZLQ Pcuqoa Un te Ratented May 15, 1956 2,745,104 QU CK- P LY N CAP N HOOD Ralph W. Persico and Dominic Pompa, Philadelphia, Pa., assignors to the United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army prliratien Ma h 25, 1954. S r a N 1. .7 6

2 Claims. (c1. 2-..83

(Granted under Title 35, U. S. Code (1952), sec. 266) The invention described herein, if patented, may be manufactured and used by or for the Government for governmental purposes, without the payment to us of any royality thereon.

This invention relates to combined capes and hoods and particularly to capes and hoods lined with thermal insulating material, such as glass wool, and coated with aluminum or other radiation-reflecting material, and having an outer fabric which may be rendered flame resistant by any of the well-known standard processes.

A primary object of the present invention resides in folding and rolling a combined cape and hood so that it will occupy a relatively small space and can be readily supported across the back or shoulders of a soldier or other prospective wearer.

Another object of the invention resides in folding and rolling the cape portion inside-out so that when released for use it can automatically fall into position over the body of the wearer with the inner side next to wearers body.

A still further object of the invention consists in securing the package in rolled condition by means of a strap and Figure 2 is a similar view of the released package showing the cape in operative position but with the hood suspended from the upper end thereof at the back of the wearers neck;

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 but showing the hood in position on the wearers head;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the novel cape and hood package in relation to the cartridge belt to which it is attached for support on the wearers shoulders;

Figure 5 is a plan view of the partly formed package prior to rolling into final position;

Figure 6 is a sectional view taken on line 6-6 of Figure 5;

Figure 7 is a plan view of the cape and hood in open position; I

Figure 8 is a fragmentary plan view of the body of the cape, and

Figure 9 is a section taken on line 9--9 of Figure 8.

The cape and hood of the present invention are indicated by the numerals 1 and 2 respectively, the back portion of the hood being connected to the upper edge of the cape by a line of stitching 3. In the present illustration both the cape and the hood are shown as formed of inner and outer plies 4 and 5 respectively and an intermediate layer 6. The outer fabric layer 5 may be rendered resistant, if desired, by any of the Wellknown processes, and the inner layer 4 is preferably treated to render it water resistant. The intermediate layer of the cape and hood is preferably formed of a thermal insulating material such as glass wool, or the outer face of the outer fabric 5 may be provided with aluminum or other radiation reflecting metallic coating if desi ed. Thearticle as thus constructed may be quilted as indicated by the numeral 7 so as to maintain the several P8fl$ hfihi Proper operative positions. It is to be understood, howeverfthat the present invention is concerned ch e y ith t Packaging o a cape nd o d s a it may be conveniently supported on the wearers shoulders and quickly released to place the elements in their operat ve positions, rather than in the specific structural feasues Qfthc ca and hope In the Pr l na y st g s of forming h Pa ka e the cape and hood are spread out in open position as indicated in Figyre 7 and a plurality of longitudinal folds amed: e h sided the lcen er'l tie 9 (Fi r .6) ofthe hood and cape preliminary to the final rolling of these items into the completed package; This intermediate or partly formed package is clearly illustrated in the plan view of Figure 5, and as clearly indicated in that view the two stacks of folds are sector shaped with their tapered ends at the upper or neck end of the partly formed package.

The rolling operation is begun at the lower end of the cape and rolled up to cylindrical shape as shown at It in Figure 4 with the hood 2 overlapping the outer convolution of the roll. It should be here pointed out that the folding of the cape is done with inner layer 4 on the outside so that the cape is actually wrong side-out when rolled up into the cylindrical form 10, but the hood 2 is not so inverted. In order to retain the cape and hood in packaged form until ready for use, a strap 11 is provided and has an end portion attached to the upper end of the cape on the inner side thereof as indicated by the numeral 12. An extension 13 on the strap is provided with one element 14 of a snap fastener while complementary elements of a snap fastener are serially arranged on the free end of the strap and indicated by the numeral 15. A finger grip portion 16 extends from the portion 13, and as indicated in Figures 1 and 4 is directly behind the neck of the wearer when the package is in position for use, so that it may be readily grasped by merely placing the hand behind the head as indicated in Figure 1.

To support the completed package in position the neck portion of the cape is provided with a pair of straps it? which are adapted to extend forwardly over the shoulders of the wearer and downwardly towards a cartridge belt or the like 18. The cartridge belt may be provided with a pair of upwardly extending tabs 19 provided with one of the elements 20 of a snap fastener which cooperates with complementary snap fastener elements 21 on the free ends of the straps 17. These straps may of course be provided with any type of adjustment 22 for adapting the attachment to persons of various sizes.

While this quick-applying cape and hood package may have various uses, it is intended primarily for military use and quickly applied protection against thermal radiation, radiations from atomic bombs and against napalm. As heretofore stated the package 10, that is the cape portion thereof, is folded and rolled up inside-out so that by merely pulling on the tab 16 so as to release the strap 11 from its encircling engagement with the roll 10 the cape is allowed to unroll and unfold downwardly so as to envelop the body of the wearer as clearly indicated in Figures 2 and 3, and the hood 2 may be pulled up over the wearers head if and when desired. It is thus seen that the wearer may be quickly enveloped in this protective clothing by a mere pull of the operators hand on the tab 16.

In accordance with the patent statutes, we have described what we now consider to be the preferred form of the invention, but inasmuch as various minor changes may be made in structural details without departing from the spirit of the invention, it is intended that all such changes be included within the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. In combination, a combined cape and hood, said cape being folded inside-out into a plurality of longitudinal folds and rolled up inside-out and overlapped by the hood, a strap encircling the package thus formed, snap fastener means on the strap for releasably securing the strap in position about the package, means for supporting the package across the shoulders of the wearer, and a forwardly-extending tab on the free end of the package-encircling strap providing a finger grip, whereby the cape may be released by a forward pull on the strap so as to unfold by gravity into operative position as a covering for the wearers body.

2. In combination a combined cape and hood, said cape being folded inside-out into a plurality of longitudinal folds and rolled up inside-out and overlapped by the hood, a strap encircling the package thus formed, snap fastener means on the strap for releasably securing the strap in position about the package, a pair of straps connected to the shoulder portion of the cape in spaced relation and adapted to extend forwardly across the shoulders of the wearer, a belt for encircling the waist of the wearer, complementary snap fasteners on the'free ends of said pair of straps and on said belt for releasably supporting the package across the shoulders of the wearer, and a forwardly-extending tab on the free end of the packageencircling strap providing a finger grip, whereby the cape may be released by a forward pull on the strap so as to unfold by gravity into operative position as a covering for the Wearers body.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,513,074 Wolfe June 27, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS 414,220 France June 14, 1910 22,560 Great Britain 1901 

